Countless Americans enjoy riding motorcycles. The feeling of freedom and pure exhilaration while cruising the countryside with the wind in your hair is a leisure time activity for many. Many others do it out of necessity in the time of rising gas prices. Whatever the reason one has for riding a motorcycle, they do require maintenance. Any spilled liquid such as oil or gas is difficult to clean up from surfaces such as concrete and asphalt. Finally, those with prized motorcycles that are worthy of being displayed at a show or museum are constantly looking for an edge that will set their bike apart from others on display. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which motorcycles can be stored, worked on, and displayed in a manner without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention fulfills this need.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents already issued that dealt directly with the aforementioned problems; however, the following table lists patents that were considered related:
U.S. Pat. No.InventorIssue Date6,558,769ChwalaMay 6, 20036,234,452JohnsonMay 22, 20016,120,876WaltonSep. 19, 20006,095,499JohnsonAug. 1, 20006,062,162DeanMay 16, 20005,979,878BlankenshipNov. 9, 19995,927,689JohnsonJul. 27, 19995,639,067JohnsonJun. 17, 1997
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,452, U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,499, U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,689 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,067, all issued in the name of Johnson, discloses a hand-operable motorcycle stand. The devices described by Johnson involve the use of a compact, hand-operable stand merely for aiding in the raising and lowering the motorcycle. The patents issued to Johnson do not take into account the primary concern of protecting floor surfaces. Also, the Johnson patents involve many moving parts and are mainly concerned with the servicing of the motorcycle and not with displaying the motorcycle in a visually appealing manner, as is the case with the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,878 issued in the name of Blankenship, is similar in scope to the Johnson patents, but includes pull cables, in that it involves the means to raise and lower the motorcycle for servicing, but doesn't have any of the features or advantages of the present invention.
U Several patents have been issued describing devices for protecting the interior floor of a garage or other automobile storage or service facility. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,769 issued to Chwala and U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,876 issued in the name of Walton has as a feature the benefit of a protector for the floor of a garage or the like that is manufactured out of a unitary material of construction and is designed to collect anything that may fall from a vehicle, including rain, snow, or slush. However, the Walton patent is concerned with protecting the floor of the garage specifically from liquid runoff from a 4-wheeled automobile and is not suitable for the aesthetic display of a 2-wheeled vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,162, issued to Dean, is essentially a garage parking aid. The Dean device includes an anti-skid mat with means to contain any fluid spillage and a marker to aid in parking a vehicle into a garage. Again, the present invention differs from the prior art in that it is concerned with the visually appealing means of storing and displaying a motorcycle.
Consequently, a need has been felt for providing a device that can store and display a motorcycle, as well as other off-road sport vehicles, in an aesthetic manner and at the same time protect the floor of the facility in which it resides.